


Splintered

by grassyhyuuga



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-03
Updated: 2013-11-03
Packaged: 2017-12-31 09:22:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1029998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grassyhyuuga/pseuds/grassyhyuuga
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fill for prompt on the naruto_meme livejournal: "After the war, Team Gai has to deal with loss."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Splintered

They do not mourn together.

 

* * *

 

The first one to break is Lee.

He stomps off mid-spar, ripping off his legwarmers as if they are giant leeches with a feverish glint in his eyes. "He always hated these..." Nobody asks who 'he' is.

Tenten's mouth is a grim, tight slash on her face. Gai does not follow, his grief locked in the bowl-cut of his hair like a prisoner. And, for a moment, he hates his beloved student, hates how he cannot be, is not, a regular shinobi and cannot, will not, deal with this like a regular shinobi. 

 

* * *

  
She is alone when it happens. After the war, she had gotten rid of all the artefacts of her childhood. (They hadn't even filled half a box.)  
  
So what was  _that_  doing here, on her shelf, mocking her with its ursine smile?   
  
Tenten remembers her own strained smile when he had pushed the birthday gift at her, almost roughly, as if wishing to be rid of it. She remembers the awkward shuffle of his legs, the uncertainty in his eyes, the uncharacteristically halting syllables of his speech. "You can save your coins in it. The ears reminded me of your hair."  
  
No, Neji had never been good at presents, but he had tried, and now she finds herself gripping a porcelain panda and suffocating in hollowness. 

 

* * *

  
Gai is fighting when he snaps, the jovial grin slipping off his face like water, leaving a sodden snarl in its place.   
  
The man's skull is pieces of fine dust on the red (when did the grass turn red?) ground by the time they pull him off. "Gai-sensei!" Their fervent voices finally filter through, distorted and... afraid? "Sensei, he's dead." He doesn't know if they are talking about the enemy or Neji. (It doesn't matter, because no matter how hard he kicks and strives his student will never come back, and his entire way of life is a lie.)

 

* * *

  
They are no longer (cannot be) a team, so they do not mourn him together.


End file.
